Foreword by Geoff Richards, Deputy Editor

This article was originally posted on bit-tech in November 2004. When we launched the new-look site in June 2005, the article was not ported to our new format and many of you asked - 'Where has WMD gone? When will it be finished?' The conspiracy theories flew thick and fast, with rumours that Pete, aka G-gnome, had retired from modding forever. I am pleased to say that this is not the case.

When he's not slaving over a hot Dremel, Pete works for the Australian Military. Due to the escalation in terrorist activity in recent times, Pete was forced to take extended leave from his modding to attend to 'other matters'. As a fellow Australian, I am proud of the sacrifices he has made on behalf of the Australian people and in defending our way of life. If only everyone believed in the idea of Make Mods, Not War.

In any case, I can now happily report that Pete is back in his workshop, busier than ever, and determined to finish WMD. Yet more drawings have been sent to the laser shop just this week, and we look forward to being able to bring you the conclusion of this immense project very soon. For now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy a trip down memory lane with the digitally remastered, effects-laden extravaganza that is the Special Edition of WMD Part I.

"Don't you mean Weapon of Mass Distraction, M? I'm sure Moneypenny could fill us in on that."

"Grow up, 007..."

Part 1 - From Concept to Casemod

This article is the first in a series that will be covering the construction of project WMD, my very own PC doomsday device. The project originated as an idea at the end of 2003, but work on my Orac³ case kept it to just an idea until a few months ago, when planning began in earnest. There is still a long way to go, with only about 75% of the basic shell of the case completed, and none of the insides. I also have a lot of very special things planned for the project, some of which will be explained here, though I'll be saving up a few as surprises for later articles...

Inspiration

Think of all the movies you ever saw in which the hero races against time to find and disarm some sort of evil doomsday device. It's a common plot element that has been used and abused in cinema, television and books countless times. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman and George Clooney, Nicholas Cage, Kiefer Sutherland, and many others, have had to deal in recent years with these manifestations of a dastardly villain's twisted mind. James Bond movies, 24, even MacGyver (ahem - Ed)... we've all watched in horror shouting "No, noooo! Cut the (insert colour here) wire!!", or held our breath as fragile green globes of nerve gas have teetered on the brink of destruction, before the day/city/country/planet is once more saved from a hellish nuclear winter at, literally, the last second. All a bit Hollywood really.

Anyway, following in the footsteps of the aforementioned twisted minds and with a healthy 'can do' attitude inspired by DIY TV shows, the breakdown of the former Soviet Union and the looting of certain sensitive Iraqi facilities, I decided to build one myself. I didn't want just any 'ol WMD, however. I wanted a squat, menacing device that oozed danger; all tough, machined, stainless steel complete with keylocks, illuminated warning lights and requisite aura of 'I'm-about-to-wreck-your-day-asswipe!'. I wanted a huge timing device that blinked away the hours, minutes and seconds with glowing red finality - silent, electronic footsteps of doom counting down to evil nuclear annihilation Bwahahahahhahhaaaa! There was only one slight problem with my mad plans...

...weapons-grade Plutonium. As in I didn't have any. Hrm. Oh well, might just put a kickass PC in it then.

Sponsorship

Firstly, I'd like to sincerely thank all the companies that have come on board with sponsorship for this project - Shuttle, AMD, Engelking, Western Digital, Corsair, Creative, Sapphire, HWLabs, Innovatek, Coolercases UK, KustomPCs and Mnpctech. I sought out the best performing and best looking components I could find for this system, and the wonderful support and enthusiasm of these companies has enabled me to plan a mod that will be a fusion of extreme performance with extreme modding (or modding extremism)! Without them I couldn't have contemplated doing half the things I'll be taking on in this project.

SYSTEM

COOLING

MODDING SUPPLIES/COOL STUFF

The next time you need some new hardware for your PC or modding project, please consider these companies - they support the modding community, so as consumers, let's in turn support them.